Gail Baker, Artist
It all started when…
Gail Baker Artmaker started at a small, sunny kitchen table in Seattle, Washington in 1953. My mother was drawing a bunny as I watched, the magic alluring me to delve into it as well. Inspired, I also drew the bunny. It was just fine! We drew more faces and animals in color, making marks that were meaningful as much as mysterious and fascinating. At that moment, I immediately signed up to be an artist.
I continued drawing, painting, and playing with clay until formulas replaced mystery in college. I was inspired by my clay class professor’s way of creating works of art, but I wasn't satisfied with formulas. When he encouraged experimentation, I made a set of phallic containers and sculptures which I was too embarrassed to present for final grades. Although I'm sure he would have enjoyed and even valued my craftsmanship, realism, and originality, the freedom I once felt was overcome by a stronger sense of shame.
Graduate school began with an art therapy class at Marylhurst College in Oregon. Leather mask making! The magic of immersion in the creative process returned 25 years after the ill-fated clay experience. The Evergreen State College printmaking and photography departments drew me deeper into self-expression. Shame was not present. In 2000, I completed a graduate degree in Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis on art and creative expression and healing.
The work I do now - process painting, somatic visual journaling, painting, clay, masks, paper mache, mixed media collage - is all a part of accepting and growing into life's infinite space of possibility. Creativity is the practice.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010-2019 Vetiver Organic Hair Spa, Issaquah, WA
2012-2013 Sand Point Grill, Seattle, WA
2013 Issaquah Coffee Company, Issaquah, WA
2010 Fin’s Bistro, Issaquah, WA
2010 Windows Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Fireweed Gallery, Homer, AK
2007 Ring of Fire Meadery, Homer, AK
2004 Ptarmigan Arts Backroom Gallery, Homer, AK
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015-present Evergreen Arts Association, Public Art Program, Bellevue, WA
2016 Kirkland Arts Center, Members Juried Show. Kirkland, WA
2012-2014 ERA Living, Ida Culver House, Seattle: University House, Issaquah; University House, Seattle
2012-2014 Kirkland Arts Center Store, Kirkland, WA
2012-2013 Sea Lion Gallery, Homer, Alaska
2010-2018 artEast Art Center, Issaquah, WA - Juried member shows including “Bits and Pieces”, “Enthuse”, and “Falling”
2008 Trailer Art Center, Anchorage, AK - Juried traveling show
2007 Mountain View Arts Center, Anchorage, AK, Fairbanks, AK and Homer, AK - Juried traveling show “Out of the Box”
2006 Pratt Museum, Homer, AK - -Juried show “Going to Extremes”
2006 Bunnell Art Center, Homer, AK - Juried show “The Body”
Polymer clay and metal sculpture -
2001-2007 Latitude 59 Café, Homer, AK - Women for Peace Annual Exhibit - Masks
GRANTS/AWARDS
2011 Sammi Awards for city of Sammamish in Sammamish, WA – Second place art award
2007 Fireweed Gallery in Homer, AK - Best of Show
2007 Alaska State Council on the Arts Career Opportunity Grant
2007 Alaska Arts Education Consortium Instructor of Statewide Teachers
2005 Homer Council on the Arts Artist of the Year in Homer, AK
2004 Stranded Art Fund Grant in Homer, AK
ORGANIZATIONS AND
AFFILIATIONS
2013-2016 Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2010-present Evergreen Fine Arts Association in Bellevue, WA - Member
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Life skills and art coach for developmentally delayed adults, Homer, AK
Retail sales and advertising artist for educational toy store, Olympia, WA
5th and 6th grade teacher, Shelton, WA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2014-2018 Seniors Creating Art, West Seattle, WA - Contract teaching: drawing, acrylic painting
2008-2018 Seniors Making Art, Tukwila, WA - Contract teaching: silk painting, acrylic painting, Touch Drawing, drawing, collage.
2008-present Art East Art Center, Issaquah, WA - Instructor: Drawing, Painting, Polymer clay, Visual Journaling, and Mask Making
2008-present Gail Baker Artmaker Studio in Issaquah, WA - Private classes and workshops
2008-2011 Windows Gallery in Seattle, WA - Intuitive Painting and Visual Journaling
2008 Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, AK - Painting instructor
2007 Alaska Arts Education Consortium, Teachers Teaching Teachers, Juneau, AK
2007-2012 Attention Deficit Disorder Resources Conference in Seattle and Bellevue, WA - Workshop instructor in contemplative, expressive arts for ADHD
EDUCATION
2000 M.A. Psychology, Creative Expression - Institute of Transpersonal Psychology/Sophia University, Palo Alto, CA
1993-1994 Art Therapy - Marylhurst College, Lake Oswego, OR
1993 Psychology - Innovative/Expressive Therapies - St. Martin’s College, Lacey, WA
1992 Surface Design on Fabric - Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR
1990- 1991 Printmaking. Photography - The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
1971 B.A. Philosophy , Minor Graphic Arts - University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1967-1969 Fine Arts, French, German - Washington State University, Pullman, WA
WORKSHOPS and RESIDENCIES
2014 Issaquah Middle School, Issaquah, WA- Intuitive acrylic painting
2013 Bunnell Street Art Center, Homer, AK - Touch Drawing
2013 Paul Banks Elementary, Homer, AK - Residency: Masks of Outer Space
2009-2010 Sunny Hills Elementary, Sammamish, WA - Residency: Young Writers Workshop, Masks and Stories
2009 Homer Council on the Arts, Homer, AK - Residency: Leather mask making and character development with K-6 students
2008 Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Sitka, AK
2007 Basic Art Institute, Alaska Arts Ed Consortium, Juneau, AK - Training and planning for teacher training; instructor for teacher training.
2007 Tikusik Brown Elementary, North Pole, AK - Artist in Residence, Paste paper Collage, Storytelling with K-6 students
2006-2007 Flex Alternative High School, Homer, AK - Residencies: Mask Making and Self-Exploration
2006-2007 Fireweed Academy, Homer, AK - Residencies: Leather Mask Making and Jazz Dance
2007 Arctic Light Elementary, Fairbanks, AK - Artist in Residence, Collage, Storytelling
2007 West Homer Elementary, Homer, AK - Residency: Painting as Storytelling
2004-2007 Paul Banks Elementary, Homer, AK - Residencies: Collage, Paste Paper, Storytelling, Masks.
2006 Whittier School, Whittier, AK - Artist in Residence with K-12 students from Native villages, Masks
1994-1999 Other mask making residencies in Shelton,WA and Olympia, WA